is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
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Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 105, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, hope you’ve recovered from the clocks falling back, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
I also have for you a very exciting new line of smart home stuff, a new Apple TV show worth watching, a great update to a great Android launcher, an app for your AirPods, and much more.
Also, quick housekeeping note: no Installer next week. We’ll be back in two weeks with some fun pre-Black Friday stuff, in addition to everything else. In the meantime, lots to do this week. Let’s go.
(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What have you been reading / watching / playing / listening to / turning into cider this week? Tell me everything: [email protected]. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)
The Drop
Ikea Bilresa . If anyone is going to really democratize the idea of the smart home, it’s Ikea. I am into most of the nearly two dozen Matter-compatible things the company announced this week, from lights to sensors to controllers, but the super customizable Bilresa buttons and remotes won me over immediately. They’re not on sale yet, but I’m putting them here now because I think they’re gonna be worth waiting for. If anyone is going to really democratize the idea of the smart home, it’s Ikea. I am into most of the nearly two dozen Matter-compatible things the company announced this week, from lights to sensors to controllers, but the super customizable Bilresa buttons and remotes won me over immediately. They’re not on sale yet, but I’m putting them here now because I think they’re gonna be worth waiting for.
Predator: Badlands . Whenever a movie gets reviews that are like, “It’s well-made and a great time but it’s not exactly High Art,” I confess I immediately get excited. Give me more dumb fun! This appears to be a little dumb and a lot of fun. I’m in. Whenever a movie gets reviews that are like, “It’s well-made and a great time but it’s not exactly High Art,” I confess I immediately get excited. Give me more dumb fun! This appears to be a little dumb and a lot of fun. I’m in.
Pluribus . “Created by Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul” is literally all the pitch this show requires for me. But the fact that it’s a sci-fi show — about a world in which everyone is a little too happy — makes it even more exciting. “Created by Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul” is literally all the pitch this show requires for me. But the fact that it’s a sci-fi show — about a world in which everyone is a little too happy — makes it even more exciting.
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